Bracket hinge



Y with `this type of door.

-s si" DANIEL D. swEivI, oF BRIDGEIORT. CoNNECTIcUTgAssIGNoR imo THEVieiIittIs'rIC' Appiication ined 1 :man ,rufaryY although it is, ofcourse, not limited to use the invention to providev a simple hingeposition, which will limit the opening'movement of the door, and whichwill be so con;.

structed and'arranged as to increase-the force tending tofclose theidooras `the doorV is moved toward open position', so that when shown asapplied to a Vrefrigerator doory Yso Yused with a door mounted to swingin a vertical' plane the force tendingto close the door will increasewith the effective weight of the door as it is swung'downwardly to theopeny position, thus'preventing jar or sudden shock in the opening ofthe door, with the resultant excessive strains von the hinge and thesecuring means therefor.

lVith the foregoing and other objects iii view, I have devisedtheconstructionillustrated inthe vaccompanying drawing forme ing a part ofthis specification, similarref-v erence `characters being employedthroughf out the Vvarious A4figures lto `indicate corre-.V

sponding elements.v In this drawing, y v-Fig 1 is a front elevation of ahinge mounted to swing downwardlyabout an axis in a horizontal plane. Yf Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof showing the door in closedposition. l l Fig.A 3 is au endv elevation lookingptoward. the bottom ofFig. 1,?andy l Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the door in openposition.' -r y i* 4I n the drawing I have shown the hinge as appliedtoadoor vin the rear wall of a refrigerating counter or showcase. f Itis usual in this typeof ,installation to have the yrear wall ofthiscase,rindicated at 10, inclined as shown inFigs. 2 and 4 at anlangle ofv about fifteen degrees to the vertical, andthe door (D)is-inounted to swing in a vertical plane about a h orizontal axisv withVthe upper edge free so that the door swings'i outv wardly anddownwardly oii'hinges mounted secured to the rear wall by suitablescrews' 12, and a strapl?) secured tothe door yas It is an object of.

BnacKnrHINCE;f'f j 3,1926. seriainalsassa 1;

necled to the butt. In the present instance thejbutt isf provided withspaced ears 15 extending atright angles to thebody of the butt betweenwhich the strap islpivoted by lmeans of a pin 16.

vAlban spring l'is rigidly:securedtofthe'f i .Y .strap,rpreferablyadjacent `the upper end,

thereof, .by any suitablemeans such as rivets'- 18.y Thisspringmaycompriseone ormore Vflat strips ofy spring metal, there being twoVsuperposed strips in the spring shown in the Vdraw1iig.i^ilso.pivotedv-td theV butt, preferably between the ears 15is a member r19"which yI term a lyoke., In the present.. construction it -is shown asa'bariof metal bent to substantially U-shape with its opposite free ends20-jpivoted vin'- the ears of the butt at a Hpoint, belowtheypivot16forthe strap I I or on theopposite side of this pivot fromthe,"v

strap when the door is inthe closed position,

and it is spacedfrom this pivot. The {intermediate or body portion ofthe door is pive ot`ed,to the free endof the springlf? as means of,afloop 2lwrappedjaroundV the yoke. The springis,preferablyjof such i aBRONZE COMPANY, orianincnroiar, CONNECTICUT, .a CORPORATION oFCoNNIic'rIn` length that when thedoor isin the-closed position thek yokeis inclined outwardly. and upwardly` as indicated inFig. 2. 5 1

It will be apparent from an inspection of s' F ig. 2 'thatl as thespring -17 is under tension,`

wardthe strap,`the tension ofv'this spring andits free end tendsto moveinwardlytop tends to close thedoor and to hold it in. the l vclosedposition. VIt will alsoffbe., apparent that as the free endwof thespringfand theyoke swingabout'the pivoted ends 2O of the yoke in thebutt, as indicatedfby the are4 22, y

when the door is openedf and as theY pivot point 20 is4 below-the'pivot16 about which the strap swings, theipivot 21between the v springiandthefyokeduring this movement will swing farther .and :farther away fromthe pivot 16, thus increasing the tension on' the door is swung towardthe Thus, althoughthe effectiveA n the spring as Vopen position.weightfofj the door lincreases as thefree upper edge thereofv isv swungdownwardly and outwardly about the pivot 16, the tenj sion of the springis substan/ tially'oorre-y spondin'gly increased vto compensate forthis. increase in the effective weight ofthe door, and thev maximumtension vwill be placed, onthe spring when thepivot ,16 for the strap,the ypivot 20 forthe yoke4 tothe buttpand y line.

the pivotal connection 2l between theyoke and the spring aresubstantially in a straight The spring is so mounted and pro#portioned,. as is also the yoke, tol bring aboutthis condition when thedoor isin the substantially eXtreme `open position or *justA before itreaches this position 'whichfis substantially horizontal as shown inFig.l 4. Thus the greatest tension is'onl the springV and it exertsitsgreatest force to close Vvthe.

door-when the eective weightof the door ls' at the .maXimunL AIt is,however, preferred not to make the spring of ksufficient tension toswing the door to `the closed position from this extreme open (position,butk to merely compensate for the weight of the" ldoor so that the doorwill be suspended yby the spring'and it willpnot swing open with a jaror sudden shock withits'consequent excessive strain on the parts ofthehinge and' the securing means therefor.` It `is, however, desirablethat'whenvthe door approaches the upright r'position the spring willhave suilicient tension to swing it tothe closed lposition to preventthe door being inadvertently .left open a short distance in the closingoperation. It will, of course, be

understood, that, if found desirable the' spring may be made of'suiiicient tension to close the doorfroin the openl position.

`Norrrially when the dooris wide open the v i weight is on the springsof the hinges as the yfree `.end of the spring inthis positionerigagesthebutt of the hinge as indicated in kFig. 4. 'In order to"prevent'breaking of the springs by theplacing of an excessive weight`.on'the'jdoor I' have provided "a rigid stop means. This'is shown inthe drawing as a stop lugQB on the butt and extendingoutlwardlytherefromand having a freeupper edge 24 located just below the lower surface ofAthestrap whenthe door.y is in its normal extreme. open position toprovide a. slight clearance. T his willinsure `that the "door in thisposition is normally held by the springs.

Should, however, an 'excessive weight be Y- placed on the door thesprings willfb'ow upwardly as indicated indotted lines in Q 4f and allowthedoor to move downwardly .50

slightly `to the dotted lineposition until the strap rests on theupperedge of this stop lug. ".lfhis will provide a rigid stop vorsupport preventing any further movement and alsov preventing breaking ofthe' spring. It

will, of i eouirse,`v`be :apparent lthat this stop "lngjmay be reversedvand mounted on the strap so as to engage the` buttfjwith the same Y,effect.' Y

y Although. I have shown afsinglehinge forv thedoorfitjwill, of course,be obvious that normally two o r more` hinges will he used ,fora door.If the hinges are used on doors swingin,ggl in a horizontal plane abouta verticalaXis the lsprings in this caser are not upon t0 ySupport the(weight of the door so that they will swing the door toward closedposition. However, ifthe pivot V16 for the strap,.the pivot 20 for theyoke Aandthe pivotal connection 2l between Athe yyoke'and the springareso arranged that theyA are in a straight line whenl the door is`Vop.en,or so that the connection 21 passes vslightly beyondthe linejoining thevcenters of the pivots 16 and 20, this spring will re- .tainthe'door in the open position, but after f a slight movement towardclosed position the spring will swing it the rest of the way toclosed'position. l l

.lt will be apparent `from'Y the foregoing description'that the hinge isvery simple in construction,.andthat the supporting tension of thespring 'forl the Vdoor lgraduallyy increases as the effective weight of'thevdoor increases, to compensate therefor, as the door is swungoutwardly andV downwardly toward the vopen position.y ,'Also that thespring forms the stop to normally limit the open movement of the door sothatl this gradual. increase of tension together with engagementof thespring withfthe buttat the end of the opening movement prevents jar orsudden shock as the door reaches the extreme open position. I

Having` thus set forth the nature-of my invention, what I claim is:

1. A door hinge comprisinga butt, a strap pivotedto the butt, a yokepivoted to; the

butt on the opposite side of thejstrap pivot from the strap` when thedoor iszclosed, and a laterally yieldable 'spring rigidly secured tothestrap and pivoted at'itsfree endto the yoke at a distance from itsconnectontoy the a bar spring rigidly secured tothestrap and pivoted atitsfree end to the yoke, the length of the spring being such that v.theyoke is in Y clined toward they strapy when thedoor lis in the closedposition. p

4t. Av door hingey comprising abutt having spaced ears, a strappivotedtosaid ears, a

" substantially U-shaped` yoke pivoted' at its free ends to said earslaterally ofthe strap pivot, anda bar spring rigidly secured to thestra-p and pivoted at its free end tothe intermediate portionof theyoke. y y

5. A .door hinge comprising` a butt, a strap pivoted tothe butt, a'yokepivoted tov the butt on the opposite side of the strap pivot from thestrap when the door is closed, and

a bar spring' rigidly secured to vthe strap and pivoted at its free endtothe yoke at a distance outwardly from the oonneoton of said y-oke tothe butt, the free .end of the spring` being arranged to engage the buttto provide a stop when the door is in the extreme open position. i

6. A door hinge Comprising a butt, a strap pivoted to the butt, a' yokepivoted to the butt on the opposite side of the strap pivot from thestrap when the door is closed, a. har springrigidly secured to the strapand pivoted at its free end to the yoke at a. distance from theconnection of said yoke tothe but-t, the free end of the spring beingyieldahle stop 'orvthe door when in open -position, and a rigid stopbetween'the butt and i strap to limit moyement of the door beyond thisposition. e Y Y 7. A door hinge comprising a butt, a strap pivoted toVthe butt, a yoke pivoted tothe butt on the opposite side -oi' the strappivot from the strap Whenthe door is closed, and aspring exerting;l a.lateral` pressure carried by the strap andhaving a pivotalv oonnee' tionto the yokeat a .distance from its oonneotion to the butt. l

l Intestimony whereof I afiX my 'signature DANIEL D. SWEM.

